The present invention relates to the construction of buildings, and more particularly closures for windows or doors. Specifically the invention relates to closures for a window or a door in which the unit is completely assembled, framed, and includes a shutter system suitable for operations in areas where hurricane resistant closures are desired.
In the constructions of buildings, particularly housing of large scale, low cost dwellings, the cost of installing windows and doors is magnified by the necessity for utilizing several trades in order to frame-in the window, and then place the window in position, and subsequently provide for a shutter system suitable for withstanding hurricane loads, as required by the Southern Florida Building Code, Miami-Dade County Code, and similar codes.
Contractors normally contract out the plumbing, excavation, slab, and masonry work which is usually concrete block. Therefore, what is desired is a product which is factory dimensioned to close tolerances which includes not only a frame for the window or the door, but an integral shutter system which can be selectively employed to secure against intrusion, burglary, vandalism, wind storms, hurricanes, and the like. Recent building codes have required masonry block contractors to frame in building opening with cast concrete which results in tolerances of xc2xc inch or less on each side of the opening and also as to top and bottom. Planarity is insisted upon on the tops and sides, whereas the bottom of the opening is left to finishing at the time the opening is filled with a window, door, screen complex, or other structural member. As a result, closer dimensional tolerances are required for the installation of windows, doors, and particularly storm shutters. Working to these tolerances also requires ongoing installation steps which, when supplied with dimensionally stable frames and closures, are easier to fulfill.
The art of shutters and panels for covering openings in buildings and vehicles is long standing. Some of these structures have been intended for protection against storm winds and flying debris, and yet lack sufficient strength to do the job reliably. In addition, individually bolted panels can be awkward or unappealing because they are bulky, obstructive and conspicuous, or have too many separate parts to be economical to manufacture. Moreover, these panels all require extra storage space off season.
U.S. Pat, No. 4,634,172, issued Jan. 6, 1997 to Duda, discloses a rain sealing mechanism for securing a panel to a recreational vehicle. The panel shown in the Duda patent is intended to be merely incidental to a flexible connector which secures the panel. Yet for purposes of the present application, the Duda panel is of greater interest. Duda illustrates a deployable panel formed of a series of elongate plates having pivotally interlocking opposing edges including a C-shaped rail along one edge and a bead along the opposing edge. The rail and bead are sized so that the bead of one plate is retained within the rail of an adjacent plate. The composite panel is stored by gathering the interlocking plates into a roll on a spool. The width of the opening in the C-shaped rail is such that the adjacent panel abuts one edge of the opening when the panel is fully opened and abuts the other opening edge when the panel is fully closed. A problem with Duda, if used for storm protection, is that the deployed panel presents a substantially planar composite sheet which is relatively susceptible to bending and crushing failure from object impact. Another problem is that the locking strength of the plate edge structure is limited to the abutment of a plate face against a single opening edge in an adjacent plate. Still another problem is that the plates forming the panels cannot be collapsed face-to-face for compact storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,120, issued Dec. 5, 1978 to Frey, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,724, issued Feb. 24, 1987 to Schijf, both reveal panels made up of plates very similar to those of Duda. Frey and Schijf once again have a C-shaped channel along one plate edge interlocking with a bead along an adjacent plate edge, and open into a substantially planar configuration. As a result, Frey and Schijf present the problems of Duda.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,714, issued Feb. 28, 1984 to Barber, teaches a roller shutter door formed of a series of horizontal plates with pivotably inter-engaged edges. One edge is curved back over the plate to form a C-shaped cross-section, and the opposite edge is curved back over the opposite side of the plate in a slightly smaller C-shaped cross-section. The smaller C-shaped edge of one plate fits into the larger C-shaped edge of an adjacent plate. To reduce slack between the interlocking plate edges, a strip of resilient material is placed inside the smaller C-shaped edge. The plates are bowed to provide a certain degree of corrugation in the deployed panel, but there is a lack of strength at the edge joints which is similar to that described above for Duda. Another problem is that the plates are all convex in the same direction, and thus cannot be collapsed face-to-face into a compact stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,470, issued Jun. 23, 1970 to Kurz, illustrates a removable storm shutter including a series of hingedly interlocking plates. These plates ride in side channels to collapse substantially in a stack and to deploy into a substantially planar storm panel. Kurz presents the problems identified for Duda. The cross-sectional shape of the plates prevents them from collapsing to an extent that hinges abut; see FIG. 3.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,588, issued Feb. 9, 1988 to Ruppel, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,894, issued Nov. 27, 1990 to Machill, disclose similar versions of a roller shutter or curtain. The shutters are formed of a series of elongate plates, each having two spaced apart sheet metal face portions closed at their mutual edges. The plates are either left hollow, or are filled with an insulating material. A C-shaped channel is formed at one longitudinal edge, having a flange engagement portion extending part way across its open end. The other longitudinal edge is bent back into a hook-shaped curve to fit into the channel of an adjacent plate and to hingedly interlock with the flange engagement portion along the channel. The problems of Ruppel and Machill are similar to those of Kurz and Duda. Also, as in Barber, the plates are all convex in the same direction, preventing compact face-to-face collapse.
U.S. Pat. No 5,099,904, issued March 31 to Susnar, reveals a folding security shutter. The Susnar shutter is formed of an interlocking series of vertical plates riding in top and bottom tracks. During assembly, a bead on each plate longitudinal edge slides into one of two channels in a separate hinge strip. One hinge strip is needed to connect each adjacent pair of plates edges. A problem with Susnar is that the plates and hinge strips are separate pieces, requiring the cost of two extrusions rather than one, and the further cost of assembling the hinge strips and plates.
Panels formed of plates which do not collapse face-to-face include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,894, issued Nov. 27, 1990 to Machill; U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,120, issued Dec. 5, 1978 to Frey; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,639, issued Jul. 26, 1977 to Jones. The plates of U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,671, issued Dec. 9, 1975 to Gates, fold convex face to convex face and thus do not become fully compact. Still other patents covering loosely related subject matter include U.S. Pat. No. 2,351,656, issued Jun. 20, 1944 to Auten; U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,734, issued Sep. 17, 1968 to McCabe; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,018, issued Jun. 9, 1953 to Snyder.
Over the course of the prosecution of the parent Application, Examiner Blair Johnson cited the following references: U.S. Pat. No. A 790,632 to Hall; U.S. Pat. No. 3,670,797 to Sassano; U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,671 to Gates; U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,883 to Robinson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,905 to McKinney et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,148 to Figueiredo et al.; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,566,739 and 5,740,850 both to Hoffman; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,895 to Biggers the Applicant of the present invention.
All of the above identified patents fail to show a working combination of a door or window in combination with an integral pre-dimensioned frame which includes a retractable shutter system of the type necessitated for hurricane protection, prevention of vandalism and burglary, and the like. Hence Applicant has not only a novel shutter system for panels to insert in a building opening but the shutter system and its frame ultimately include an integral window or door for installation as a unified package in a building opening.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a folding storm panel package which forms a composite panel with pronounced corrugations when deployed, for reliable strength in protecting its self-contained window or door against wind-driven projectiles.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a panel and window or door package which has double-locking characteristics for stronger joints between deployed plates, again to withstand projectile impact.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a shutter panel package formed of plates which are cross-sectionally bowed for strength across a wide span and yet are configured cross-sectionally to be capable of collapsing face-to-face and thus occupy minimal space.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a panel package in which each plate and its plate hinge structures may be extruded together as one piece for simplicity and minimized cost.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a shutter panel window or door package which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, install and maintain. A related object of the invention is to develop a system for installing the shutter panel, window or door package with shimming, and fitting techniques, accommodating the tighter dimensional standards now being directed to contractors.
In view of the foregoing, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a pre-dimensioned system including a window or a door in combination with the frame for the window or the door, and in which the frame mounts a shutter system for raising or lowering, and which in the lowered position will conform with the vast majority of the building codes with regard to hurricane protection. As such, withstanding winds of 125 mph, and withstanding the impact of a 6 ft. 2xc3x974 at 34 mph are exemplary of the requirements that the shutter must meet.
The present invention evolved from the development of a single generally rectangular frame, with extruded guides on the lateral sides, which guides contain tracks for a retractable shutter system, and similarly contain channels for the mounting of a window or a door. Important to the invention is the universality of the channels for mounting the windows or the doors so that a wide variety of commercial window or door structures may be employed with the shutter system. On the other hand, the shutter system utilizes pleated plates which are desirably formed from a single extrusion and cut to length in accordance with the dictates of the width of the opening. At the ends of the shutter panels, provision is made for a guide assembly which is secured internally of the tracks on the lateral sides of the frame. The bottom of the frame structure is left open so that the window can be inserted from the bottom, or the door can be inserted from the bottom thereby providing a cover at the top against the ingress of rain or other contaminants, while permitting drainage from the bottom. In some applications such as a beach house, the window or door may be omitted, and yet the building fitted securely with a pre-packaged frame and shutter system. Also, a plate glass picture window may be protected by the instant shutter system. In one embodiment, means are provided for removing and replacing the shutter system and shutter panels, simply and expeditiously, which does not require the removal of any cement, stucco, or any other permanent securing materials. Replacement with a different set of shutters, or even replacing single panels, and replacing the same is accomplished inexpensively and non-destructively.
A more specific aspect of the invention includes a mounting which ensures that the plates which form the shutter panel will be held in tension. A concomitant feature results from the utilization of a tension member on both sides which engages the lowest one of the plates, thereby upon lifting, no secondary jam or cross bar is required to support the weight of the plurality of plates which form the panel of the shutter.
Various options are available for the positioning of the guide mechanism, that is, at the mid-portion of the plates, or at an outer or inner edge. In addition, the tension means for raising the unit may be applied separately, depending upon where the guide means are located in the track.